Iran-India pipeline-IV: Has Iran signed away the Farzad-B block to the Russians?

Nov 03: Have the Iranians signed a deal to hand over the Farzad-B block to the Russians?8The Russian and Iranian oil ministers had signed a number of deals last week when Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Tehran.8Russian oil producer Rosneft and theNIOC agreed on a deal to work together on a number of strategic projectsin Iran worth up to $30 billion, said Rosneft’s Managing Director Igor Sechin.8The recent deals appeared to be part of a strategy by Putin to boost Moscow’s political and economic influence in the region.8“We are talking about several oil and gas fields, which we will develop with our partners,” Rosneft boss told reporters8Iran had earlier said that it was in talks with Russian companies for the development of the Farzad-B block.Comment: The Iranians are capable of all kinds of adjustment and they can back down from any deal. This was evident from how Tehran decided to renege on a deal for an LNG project signed and sealed by then petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyer because, on hindsight, the price of gas was found to be too low. Then again, on the Farzad-B block, the Iranians are not sticking to their commitments and there were reports that the field is to be handed over to the Russians. If indeed the Farzad-B block is part of the deal with the Russia, India may still end up using its clout to wrestle something out for itself. For with Trump threatening to impose more sanctions, India will be needed by Iran as a reliable buyer of its crude when European buyers back off. Moreover, if a gas pipeline is indeed being built to India, then again, New Delhi will have enough of a say to get its fingers in the Farzad pie, perhaps in collaboration with the Russians. Click on Report for more.